An Iraqi refugee named Ali Bashar, who allegedly raped and strangled a local Jewish teenager from Mainz, Germany, has fled the country with his family. The man, who went to Germany following the announcement of the “open borders” policy, reportedly has a criminal record, having been allegedly suspected of several crimes.

Iraqi refugee Ali Bashar, the main suspect in the rape and murder of 14-year-old Susanna F. in the German city of Mainz, is wanted by police, but has already fled the country with his parents and siblings. The alleged perpetrator became the prime suspect along with a 35-year old man of Turkish decent soon after the body of the victim was discovered. The latter was detained, but cleared of suspicions and released some time later, while Bashar managed to go on the run.

According to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Bashar could not be arrested because he went underground a few days ago. He has reportedly returned to Iraq with his family of eight, flying home via Turkey. The media reports that false papers were used. This, however, hasn’t been confirmed, as the circumstances are being investigated now. According to another account of the events, he was able to escape before border police were alerted and provided a warrant.

Bashar, who lived in a refugee shelter in Erbenheim, came to Germany in the summer of 2015 to take advantage of the “open border policy” via Turkey and Greece along with the influx of refugees from the Middle East. He pleaded to be threatened by the PKK, a Kurdish group, and applied for asylum, but was rejected in December 2016, according to the FAZ. Nevertheless, he has been staying with a residence permit in Germany, having appealed the decision.

Bashar had attracted police attention more than once over the past year, according to local police chief Stefan Müller, as cited by FAZ. In April 2017 Bashar was suspected of fighting in a brawl, but charges were dropped. In February 2018, he was known to be in the vicinity when a man was beaten by three unknown assailants. In March 2018, Bashar encountered a city policewoman at night in Wiesbaden, who accused him of criminal mischief. Additionally, around that time, Bashar and an accomplice allegedly used a knife to mug a man. Afterwards, Wiesbaden police intercepted Bashar in the city and found a knife on him. He was also reportedly suspected raping an eleven-year-old refugee girl in May; however, the suspicions haven’t been confirmed.

Susanna F. went missing on May 22; a girl’s corpse was later discovered on a railway line at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, hidden under branches. Police forensics specialists conducted a DNA test and confirmed it was Susanna. Information about the whereabouts of the body was obtained from a 13-year-old boy from the home for asylum-seekers, who also provided Bashar’s name.

Susanna’s murder occurred just six months after a 15-year-old girl, Mia, was allegedly stabbed to death by an Afghan refugee in the city of Kandel. He reportedly attacked her after she broke up with him. This triggered outrage across Germany and stirred debates over tightening the country’s migrant control and refugee policy.